leadership dot #2041: silos

Many times when organizations are looking for new ideas, people’s minds center around expansion in the industry that they are currently in: colleges create additional majors, banks add new financial instruments, or retailers begin to carry a different product line. All of these are appropriate sources of new revenue but stay within known parameters (and thus limits to growth).

One farmer in Illinois thought about his resources in new ways. Instead of planting an additional crop or buying more acres, he moved beyond agriculture to venture into the recreation business by converting an old silo into a climbing wall. The existing height of the silo structure was perfect for climbing needs and with some retrofitting it has become a novel entertainment destination for people in the area.

Organizations often talk about “breaking down silos”, but maybe your quest should be to leave them standing – literally – and repurpose the use of your organization’s resources instead.

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Dr. beth triplett is the owner of leadership dots, offering coaching, training and consulting for new supervisors. She also shares daily lessons on her leadershipdots blog. Her work is based on the leadership dots philosophy that change happens through the intentional connecting of small steps in the short term to the big picture in the long term.